1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite of cerium, zirconium and samarium components and to a catalyst composition containing such composite as well as the use of such catalyst composition for the treatment of a gas stream to reduce contaminants contained therein. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with catalyst compositions containing such composite of the type generally referred to as three-way conversion or “TWC” and a process of substantially simultaneously catalyzing the oxidation of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and the reduction of nitrogen oxides present in gas streams, particularly exhaust gas streams produced by internal combustion engines.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Three-way conversion catalysts (TWC) have utility in a number of fields including the treatment of exhaust gas streams from internal combustion engines, such as automobile, truck and other gasoline-fueled engines. Emission standards for unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide contaminants have been set by various governments and must be met by older as well as new vehicles. In order to meet such standards, catalytic converters containing a TWC catalyst are located in the exhaust gas line of internal combustion engines. Such catalysts promote the oxidation by oxygen in the exhaust gas stream of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide as well as the reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen.
It is well known that by the time engine exhaust gases travel from the outlet of the exhaust manifold through an exhaust pipe to a catalytic converter, the gases cool significantly relative to the temperature at or near the manifold, so that there is a significant period of a low rate of conversion of the pollutants in the exhaust gas stream before the exhaust gases heat the catalyst in the catalytic converter to its light-off temperature. Accordingly, during the cold start period of engine operation, there is a significant discharge of engine exhaust gas containing a relatively high amount of pollutants.
It is also well known in the art to reduce the level of pollutants in the exhaust gas stream, particularly the level of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, by using an air pump in conjunction with the engine to help oxidize such pollutants. However, vehicle manufacturers would prefer to avoid using mechanical pollution control devices such as air pumps which, with their associated plumbing and mechanical parts, affect the engine architecture and are difficult to control without having an adverse impact on the optimum performance of the engine. Accordingly, vehicle manufacturers would prefer, if at all possible, to tune the engine for optimum performance without using mechanical types of a pollution control device and instead meet the vehicle emission standards discussed below solely with the use of catalyst members. As discussed below, increasingly stringent governmental emission standards require, however, that cold-start emissions be reduced.
The current “LEV” (low emission vehicle) standards in effect for all states other than California prohibit vehicle emissions above 0.08 gram of non-methane hydrocarbons per mile, 3.4 grams of carbon monoxide per mile and 0.2 gram of NOx (nitrogen oxides) per mile. Many vehicle manufacturers have difficulty in meeting the current standards solely with the use of available upstream and/or downstream catalyst compositions without the concurrent use of additional mechanical devices such as air pumps. Of even greater concern is the fact that the California Air Resource Board (“CARB”) has promulgated new “ULEV” (ultra-low emission vehicle) standards that will prohibit vehicle emissions above 0.04 gram of non-methane hydrocarbons per mile, 1.7 grams of carbon monoxide per mile and 0.2 gram of NOx per mile. Moreover, based on historical trends in vehicle emission standards, it is likely that the new ULEV standards will be required nationwide within a few years. Unless an effective method of meeting the new ULEV standards can be rapidly developed and implemented, vehicle manufacturers face the difficult problem of achieving such standards without significant changes in engine/exhaust architecture, incorporation of additional mechanical pollution control devices and the use of large amounts of expensive precious metal-based catalyst systems.
For most vehicles, a large portion (i.e., up to about 80%) of the hydrocarbon emissions occurs during the first phase of the U.S. Federal Test Procedure (“FTP”), which encompasses the cold-start period of engine operation, and which requires simulation of cold-start, warm-up, acceleration, cruise, deceleration and similar engine operating modes over a specified time period. A variety of technologies are under development to reduce cold start hydrocarbon emissions, including close-coupled catalysts as disclosed in Ball, D. J., “Distribution of warm-up and Underfloor Catalyst Volumes,” SAE 922338, 1992; electrically heated catalysts as disclosed in Piotrowski, G. K., “Evaluation of a Resistively Heated Metal Monolith Catalytic Converter on a Gasoline-Fueled Vehicle, EPA/AA/CTAAB/88-12, 1988 and Hurley, R. G., “Evaluation of Metallic and Electrically Heated Metallic Catalysts on a Gasoline Fueled Vehicle,” SAE 900504, 1990; hydrocarbon absorbers as disclosed in Heimrich, M. J., Smith, L. R., and Kitowski, J., “Cold Start Hydrocarbon Collection for Advanced Exhaust Emission Control,” SAE 920847, 1992 and Hochmuth, J. K., Burk, P. L., Telentino, C., and Mignano, M. J., “Hydrocarbon Traps for Controlling Cold Start Emissions,” SAE 930739, 1993; bypass catalysts as disclosed in Fraidl, G. K., Quissrk, F. and Winklhofer, E., “Improvement of LEV/ULEV Potential of Fuel Efficient High Performance Engines,” SAE 920416, 1992; and burners as disclosed in Ma, T., Collings, N. and Hands, T., “Exhaust Gas Ignition (EGI)—A New Concept for Rapid Light-off of Automotive Exhaust Catalyst,” SAE 920400, 1992. It has been reported that close-coupled catalysts, especially Pd-containing catalysts, are very effective at reducing hydrocarbon emissions during a cold start of the FTP cycle as disclosed in Ball, D. J., “Distribution of warm-up and Underfloor Catalyst Volumes,” SAE 922338, 1992; Summers, J. C., Skowron, J. F., and Miller, M. J., “Use of Light-Off Catalysts to Meet the California LEV/ULEV Standards,” SAE 930386, 1993; and Ball, D. J., “A Warm-up and Underfloor Converter Parametric Study,” SAE 932765, 1993. Recently, Ford has reported a successful application of Pd-only catalyst for meeting stringent emission standards as disclosed in Dettling, J., Hu, Z, Lui, Y., Smaling, R., Wan, C and Punke, A., “SMART Pd TWC Technology to Meet Stringent Standards,” Presented at CAPoC3 Third International Congress on Catalyst and Automobile Pollution Control, Apr. 20-22, 1994, Brussels.
A typical motor vehicle catalyst is an underfloor TWC catalyst which catalyzes the oxidation by oxygen in the exhaust gas of the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and the reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen. TWC catalysts which exhibit good activity and long life comprise one or more precious metal components, e.g., platinum group metal components such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium located upon a high surface area, refractory oxide support, e.g., a high surface area alumina coating. The support is carried on a suitable carrier or substrate such as a monolithic carrier comprising a refractory ceramic or metal honeycomb structure, or refractory particles such as spheres or short, extruded segments of a suitable refractory material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,860 relates to the manufacture of catalyst structures. The catalyst composition can contain platinum group metals, base metals, rare earth metals and refractory, such as alumina support. The composition can be deposited on a relatively inert carrier such as a honeycomb.
The high surface area alumina support materials, also referred to as “gamma alumina” or “activated alumina,” typically exhibit a BET surface area in excess of 60 square meters per gram (“m2/g”), often up to about 200 m2/g or more. Such activated alumina is usually a mixture of the gamma and delta phases of alumina, but may also contain substantial amounts of eta, kappa and theta alumina phases. It is disclosed to utilize refractory metal oxides other than activated alumina as a support for at least some of the catalytic components in a given catalyst. For example, bulk ceria, zirconia, alpha alumina and other materials are known for such use. Although many of these materials suffer from the disadvantage of having a considerably lower BET surface area than activated alumina, that disadvantage tends to be offset by a greater durability of the resulting catalyst.
In a moving vehicle, exhaust gas temperatures can reach 1000° C., and such elevated temperatures cause the activated alumina (or other) support material to undergo thermal degradation caused by a phase transition with accompanying volume shrinkage, especially in the presence of steam, whereby the catalytic metal becomes occluded in the shrunken support medium with a loss of exposed catalyst surface area and a corresponding decrease in catalytic activity. It is a known expedient in the art to stabilize alumina supports against such thermal degradation by the use of materials such as zirconia, titania, alkaline earth metal oxides such as baria, calcia or strontia or rare earth metal oxides, such as ceria, lanthana and mixtures of two or more rare earth metal oxides. For example, see C. D. Keith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,288.
Bulk cerium oxide (ceria) is disclosed to provide an excellent refractory oxide support for platinum group metals other than rhodium, and enables the attainment of highly dispersed, small crystallites of platinum on the ceria particles, and that the bulk ceria may be stabilized by impregnation with a solution of an aluminum compound, followed by calcination. U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,694 of C. Z. Wan et al., discloses aluminum-stabilized bulk ceria, optionally combined with an activated alumina, to serve as a refractory oxide support for platinum group metal components impregnated thereon. The use of bulk ceria as a catalyst support for platinum group metal catalysts other than rhodium, is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,052 of C. Z. Wan et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,946 of Ohata et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,842 discloses a catalytic composition for treating exhaust gases comprising a first support having dispersed thereon at least one oxygen storage component and at least one noble metal component, and having dispersed immediately thereon an overlayer comprising lanthanum oxide and optionally a second support. The catalyst layer is separate from the lanthanum oxide. The noble metal can include platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium. The oxygen storage component can include the oxide of a metal from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt and the rare earths. Illustrative of these are cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, etc. Oxides of cerium and praseodymium are particularly useful as oxygen storage components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,564 discloses a catalyst for the purification of exhaust gases having improved durability which comprises a support substrate, a catalyst carrier layer formed on the support substrate and catalyst ingredients carried on the catalyst carrier layer. The catalyst carrier layer comprises oxides of lanthanum and cerium in which the molar fraction of lanthanum atoms to total rare earth atoms is 0.05 to 0.20 and the ratio of the number of the total rare earth atoms to the number of aluminum atoms is 0.05 to 0.25.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,219 discloses an alumina-supported catalyst for use on a substrate. The catalyst is stable at high temperatures. The stabilizing material is disclosed to be one of several compounds including those derived from barium, silicon, rare earth metals, alkali and alkaline earth metals, boron, thorium, hafnium and zirconium. Of the stabilizing materials barium oxide, silicon dioxide and rare earth oxides which include lanthanum, cerium, praseodymiun, neodymium, and others are indicated to be preferred. It is disclosed that contacting them with some calcined alumina film permits the calcined alumina film to retain a high surface area at higher temperatures.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,476,246, 4,591,578 and 4,591,580 disclose three-way catalyst compositions comprising alumina, ceria, an alkali metal oxide promoter and noble metals. U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,518 discloses a catalyst comprising an alumina support with components deposited thereon consisting essentially of a lanthana component, ceria, an alkali metal oxide and a platinum group metal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,580 discloses an alumina-supported platinum group metal catalyst. The support is sequentially modified to include support stabilization by lanthana or lanthana rich rare earth oxides, double promotion by ceria and alkali metal oxides and optionally nickel oxide.
Palladium-containing catalyst compositions, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,940, have been found useful for high temperature applications. The combination of lanthanum and barium is found to provide a superior hydrothermal stabilization of alumina which supports the catalytic component, palladium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,447 discloses a catalyst which is capable of controlling HC, CO and NOx as well as H2S in emissions from the tailpipe of catalytic converter-equipped automobiles. The use of the oxides of nickel and/or iron is disclosed as a hydrogen sulfide gettering-type of compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,243 discloses a method to improve thermal stability of a TWC catalyst containing precious metals by incorporating a barium compound and a zirconium compound together with ceria and alumina. This is stated to form a catalytic moiety to enhance stability of the alumina washcoat upon exposure to high temperature.
J01210032 (and AU-615721) discloses a catalytic composition comprising palladium, rhodium, active alumina, a cerium compound, a strontium compound and a zirconium compound. These patents suggest the utility of alkaline earth metals in combination with ceria, zirconias to form a thermally-stable alumina-supported palladium-containing washcoat.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,624,940 and 5,057,483 refer to ceria-zirconia containing particles. It is found that ceria can be dispersed homogeneously throughout the zirconia matrix up to 30 weight percent of the total weight of the ceria-zirconia composite to form a solid solution. A co-formed (e.g., co-precipitated) ceria oxide-zirconia particulate composite can enhance the ceria utility in particles containing ceria-zirconia mixture. The ceria provides the zirconia stabilization and also acts as an oxygen storage component. The '483 patent discloses that neodymium and/or yttrium can be added to the ceria-zirconia composite to modify the resultant oxide properties as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,598 discloses a process for producing a high temperature resistant TWC catalyst. The process includes forming an aqueous slurry of particles of a gamma or activated alumina and impregnating the alumina with soluble salts of selected metals including cerium, zirconium, at least one of iron and nickel and at least one of platinum, palladium and rhodium and, optionally, at least one of neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium. The impregnated alumina is calcined at 600° C. and then dispersed in water to prepare a slurry which is coated on a honeycomb carrier and dried to obtain a finished catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,231 discloses a method of producing a monolithic three-way catalyst for the purification of exhaust gases. First, a mixed oxide coating is provided to a monolithic carrier by treating the carrier with a coating slip in which an active alumina powder containing cerium oxide is dispersed together with a ceria powder and then baking the treated carrier. Next platinum, rhodium and/or palladium are deposited on the oxide coating by thermal decomposition. Optionally, a zirconia powder may be added to the coating slip.
It is a continuing goal to develop a TWC catalyst system which is inexpensive and stable and which permits the attainment of ULEV standards without the necessity for mechanical emission control devices such as air pumps and without adversely affecting the engine/exhaust architecture or performance.